


The Rise of Blue Shadow

by Foilfreak



Series: A Family in all but Heritage: Why the Blood of the Covenent runs thicker than the Water of the Womb [7]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Abuse, Another good one, Blue Shadow, Competent!Buggy, Gen, Ghosts, I CAN FINALLY MAKE IT A TAG!!!, Monsters, Murder, Nightmares, Prisoners, Shadows - Freeform, This is so much longer than i originally intended it to be, another favorite, badass!buggy, but some, good dad Roger, good dad!Roger, im not mad at it but its definitely extra, ive literally been waiting like 6 months to write this fic, my favorite tag on all of AO3, not too bad, search and rescue mission, slightly graphic depictions of death, then again so am i so i guess it works, you guys have no idea how excited I am for this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2020-11-25 17:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20915819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Foilfreak/pseuds/Foilfreak
Summary: For as long as he could remember, Buggy has always been a shadow.The shadows were like home for people like Buggy, for people too small and weak to ever shine as brightly as people like Roger or Shanks, who could split the heavens themselves with little more than a glance if they so choose. But this was never an issue for Buggy. The shadows were safety, comfort, and a place where he became the hunter rather than the hunted.Unfortunately, the shadows were never as kind to others as they were to Buggy. The innocent civilians forced to live in fear underneath corrupt rulers were never provided the warmth and safety that the shadows provided Buggy. During his travels with the Roger Pirates, Buggy has seen this cruelty unfold many times before, on many islands, in many kingdoms, and was forced to watch helplessly, every single time, as innocent civilians are ripped from their homes and families, tortured for their so-called “king’s” amusement.No more.If the shadows won’t protect the innocent people of the world from the corruption and cruelty of it’s supposed leaders, then perhaps it's time for Buggy to step up and do it for them.Perhaps it’s time for the shadow to step out into the light.





	1. Once Upon a Dreary Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Dragowolf](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragowolf/gifts).

> Buenas evening to all you beautiful bastards out there. If this is the first time you are stumbling upon the trash heap that is my AO3 account, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Foilfreak, and I am known across the internet for writing some of the most outrageously self-indulgent works of literature known to mankind. Today’s steaming pile of self-gratifying heathenry is brought to you by the extensive AU that Dragowolf helped me create that I never actually had any intention of doing anything with in the beginning but is slowly but surely becoming all I can think and write about (RIP all my other projects). Like I said in the notes of the previous story (which you should probably read before reading this) I posted for this series, this story is set when Shanks and Buggy are a little bit older (they’re 14 in this fic) and is a bit more serious than the fluffy happy family type fics that I’ve written up to this point, but its also a crucial point in the timeline of the AU, a big moment for Buggy that dictates how I will be handling his character and his story arc in this AU moving forward, and I’m just really super happy with how its coming along, and the fact that I FINALLY get so share some things that Dragowolf and I have been keeping to ourselves for quite awhile now. So, without further ado, thank you so much for clicking on my story, and I hope you enjoy!!!!!

Light.

Bright light filled the atmosphere, bathing everything in its path and washing out the colors and forms of everything surrounding him. It only lasted for a moment.

The light faded, and the boy found himself in the living room of a small house, sitting on a large, soft, colorful blanket, which served as a barrier between him and the cold, hard floor. Toys and plushies of various shapes, sizes, and colors surrounded him, but they did not interest the boy at all, no, the tiny tot’s attention was caught by the sound of a voice, singing actually. A low, soft, and rhythmic melody that echoed out from somewhere, and after some looking around, the boy finally found the source of the beautiful song radiating throughout the room. 

A woman, slim but strong looking, with hair as blue as the seas, tied into many braids that cascaded down her back, eyes as deep and dark as obsidian, and intricate-looking tattoos that covered both her arms, stood behind a counter in the kitchen a ways away, sharpening a large knife with a stern, focused expression on her face as she sang. The boy did not recognize or understand the words that came out of the woman’s mouth as she sang them, but that did not detract from the beauty and majesty of the song as the small boy began to sway side to side in time with the melody. The woman looked up from her task, finally noticing the boy, and smiled fondly at him, and she herself began to sway in time with the boy as she continued to sing. 

The sound of a door opening and slamming shut halted her beautiful song.

Looking away from the woman, the boy saw a large man, tall and broad in stature, covered in very similar looking tattoos as the woman, with messy hair as dark as a raven’s feathers that fell just below his jawline, eyes as green as emeralds, and a large, red, clown-looking nose in the center of his face, trudging into the room. The man looked tired and irritated about something as he threw the bag he was carrying onto a nearby chair, before heading into the kitchen, wordlessly taking out a bottle containing some sort of dark liquid that the boy had seen the man and woman drink from before, pouring it into a very tiny glass before drinking the whole thing in one gulp. The man pours himself another glass.

“Dada” the boy yells, halting the man just before he’s able to knock back his thire drink. The man turns around and stares incredulously at the small boy for a moment, blinking in confusion as though he wasn’t entirely sure why there was a small child sitting in his living room. A large, bright smile quickly replaced his confused expression as the man abandoned the bottle and glass on the counter, before quickly moving toward the boy, who laughed and giggled, lifting his arms up toward the man as he approached.

The man scooped the babbling baby into his arms, placing a gentle kiss to the top of his head, and cooing softly at him, with words the boy did not understand. Despite this, the infant boy simply nuzzled happily into the man’s shoulder, latching onto his shirt with tiny fists, giggling when the man begins to sway from side to side, playfully spinning him around in his arms as well.

It is at this point in time that the woman finally speaks, though she does not look up from the vegetables she was chopping. Her voice is now deeper, sharper, and more sarcastic than it was while she was singing, but still just as beautiful and elegant sounding as it was before, at least, as far as the boy could tell.

The man groans, pinching the bridge of his nose in response to the woman’s words, and begins mouthing off about something that was apparently upsetting him, the woman nodding and spoke in short bursts all the while. The boy whines, his lips turned up into a pout and tears beginning to collect under his eyes as the man continued to ramble on about whatever it was he was talking about. 

The boy did not like it when the man was upset. The man was usually happy and excited, and only ever upset when bad things were happening. Bad things happening also upset the woman, who was usually calm and content. The boy didn’t like it when she was upset either, because the woman never sang when she was upset, and sometimes, if she was really upset, she would get mad and yell at the man, and they would fight, in big, loud, thunderous voices that shook the whole house.

The boy did not like it when the man and the woman fought, and he didn’t want them to fight now, and he let them know that. With a whine and a cry, the boy thrashed about in the man’s arms, gripping his shirt and yanking it as hard as his little arms could muster, capturing both the man and the woman’s attention, and halting their conversation before it could go any further.

The man says something to the boy in a gentle voice as he repositions him in his arms, gently laying the small boy on his other shoulder, before beginning to rub calm and soothing circles into the little boy’s back. This, along with the soft and even voices the man and woman were speaking in now, helped calm the boy from his initial panic, happy that the man and woman weren’t going to fight after all.

A knock on the door interrupts the happy atmosphere. 

The boy lifts his head in time to see the man and the woman exchange concerned expressions, confused as to what was going on. After a short moment of silence, another knock at the door, this time more forefull, rings out, followed by a muffled voice from the other side. The woman abandons her knife and half-chopped vegetables to move forward and take the boy from the man, holding the small child protectively in her arms. Meanwhile, the man quickly but quietly moves toward the front door, peeking out of the closed curtains right by the front door to see who is standing just outside. 

The man grimaces and groans in frustration, growling something as he rips the curtain closed again, before trudging toward the front door, and unlocking the deadbolt.

The woman shouts in a fearful, worried voice, trying to stop the man before he does something rash, but it's too late. 

The man yanks the door open and flames burst through the entrance, completely devouring the man in their inescapable embrace. The woman screams, and her voice echoes everywhere as she bursts into a cloud of dust, dropping the boy onto the hard ground. The boy does not have time to question the validity of what is going on, or why he suddenly felt so much bigger than he was just seconds ago, once he opens his eyes and sees that the usually beautiful and star-filled sky is shrouded in thick and heavy clouds of smoke. Getting up from the dirt, the boy’s eyes widen in shock and begin to fill with fearful tears, as he sees his village, his home, the only place the boy has ever known, enveloped in flames. 

People are running around, screaming, yelling, crying, begging for their lives as large, shadowy figures approach them, with large, sharp weapons, and menacing grins on their faces. The shadowy figures laugh as they bury their weapons into the soft and tender flesh of their victims, practically shriek in joy as they scream and cry out in pain. The boy stands rooted to his spot, tears streaming down his cheeks as panic causes his joints to lock in place, and his entire body to shake in dreadful fear.

The sound of breathing just behind him causes the boy’s heart to stop beating, and his skin to turn a ghostly white. Slowly and carefully, the boy turns around, and he sees another one of the shadowy figures, this one the largest of them all, staring menacingly down at him, not unlike how a predator stares at their prey, knowing they they’ve secured their next meal.

“**This could have been avoided**” the figure says, its voice sounding like what a man choking on gravel would. 

“W-who are y-y-you...?” The boy asks, his legs shaking in fear as he stares up at the menacing figure.

“**This all could have been prevented… if you had just listened to us.**”

“W-what… what d-do you “me-ean?” The boy asks, his curiosity momentarily outweighing his fear, but only barely. “W-hat could have b-been avoided?”

The shadowy figure does not answer, but the scream of the woman catches the boy’s attention.

“ROST! WHERE ARE YOU?”

“Mommy?” The boy questions, looking around for his mother, trying to figure out which direction her voice came from, but seeing only the burning flames that now surround him and the shadowy figure, obscuring everything else outside the wall of fire.

“**This is the fate that they have chosen.**” The shadowy figure speaks again, drawing closer to the boy.

“XENIA! WHERE DID YOU GO?”

“Daddy?” The boy calls out, looking around desperately for where his father could be, his breath beginning to hasten as panic sets in.

“**This is what happens to people who don’t listen to the warnings.**” The shadowy continues to draw closer and closer, seemingly growing in size with every slow and agonizing step.

“WHERE IS HE? WHERE IS OUR SON?”

“Mommy, Daddy, I’m over here” the boy calls out desperately, hoping that by continuing to call out for them that they will eventually hear him, and come to his aid, and yet with every passing second, his parents remain nowhere to be found.

“**This is what happens when you meddle in things that should be forgotten and left to die.**” 

“XENIA LOOK OUT! BEHIND Y-”

“ROST!”

“MOMMY! DADDY! WHERE ARE YOU! I’M SCARED, I WANNA GO HOME, I DON’T WANNA BE HERE ANYMORE! PLEASE HELP ME” the boy shouts, beginning to sob as the circle of flames grows smaller and smaller around him, their heat beginning to sear as they reach out for him, licking and lapping at the boy’s tender flesh. 

The boy’s heart stops once again as he finally notices the shadowy figure moving ever closer to him, looming above the small boy with a leering, predatory gaze, seemingly feeding off of the panic, fear, and misery of the small child before it. The boy’s eyes widen, unable to even scream at this point, when the shadowy figure raises a large, lava covered fist above its head, directly above where the boy stands. Darkness slowly begins to fill the space around them, the voices and sounds fading to nothing, the only light that illuminates the area coming from the shadowy figures fiery red fist, and time itself seems to halt around them. 

The shadowy figure says only one thing before bringing its deadly fist down upon the child before it.

“**Death to all who dare to challenge the divine will of the world government.**”


	2. Move your Body, Clear your Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Buggy startles awake with a cry, shooting up from his pillow, eyes wide, breath ragged, and heart pounding in his chest, threatening to burst forth from his ribs as tears begin to spill down his cheeks, as he slowly returns from the horrifying terrors of his nightmare. It takes him a few moments, but Buggy is eventually able to calm himself down from his initial panic, enough to stabilize his breathing and wipe away at the stream of tears flowing down his face, though his hands continue to tremble uncontrollably.

Looking around the room, Buggy is met with the comforting sight of his shared cabin, illuminated slightly by the full moon shining in through the small porthole window, from outside. The sound of Shanks snoring from the hammock below him also helps add to the reality that Buggy was, thankfully, no longer trapped within the horrifying chambers of his own mind any more and, also thankfully, had not woken the entire ship up with his terror-driven screaming… again. 

Despite this, the blue haired boy was still remarkably shaken up by the horrible nightmare that he just awoke from, and although its the exact same one he’s been haunted by for years now, it would appear as though it still holds a great deal of power over him, despite how long its been since the real-life events that the nightmare was based on have occurred. 

At 14 years old, one would think that silly little nightmares wouldn’t be so terrifying anymore, but apparently this was just wishful thinking on Buggy’s part.

Knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep anytime soon, Buggy gently and quietly jumped down from the top hammock he called a bed, and tiptoed his way to the door of his shared cabin, grabbing a pair of shorts and his shoes along the way, before exiting his room and heading down the hall. On the main deck, Buggy changed into the shorts and his favorite pair of shoes, a pair of running sneakers he received for his birthday last year, before quietly climbing down the side of the Oro Jackson and beginning to run laps around the shore. 

The cool breeze of the early morning, accompanied by the fact that the sun wasn’t due to rise for another couple hours, meant that it was a bit harder for Buggy to work up the sweat he normally did whenever he went running, but that didn’t even remotely detract from how good it felt to just sprint around the island at top speed, all his troubles and worries left in the dust behind him as he simply focused on his breathing and the constant rhythm of each step he took. 

For Buggy, running has become an integral part of his life. Due to his small size and lightweight, Buggy lacked the power and raw strength that the majority of the Roger pirates had and used in their fighting styles, but it also meant that he was naturally a lot faster and more agile than everyone else around him, making running and dodging his go-to methods of fighting.

Some might consider a fighting style revolving around running, hiding, and dodging to be rather cowardly, but for Buggy it was less about cowardice and more about trying to use his own unique strengths to get the upper hand in a battle, regardless of what other people have to say about the “honor” behind it. Honor means nothing to a dead man, and Buggy would much rather be criticized for having no honor, so long as he’s the one who's still breathing by the end of the fight.

On top of all that, running was also rather calming for Buggy. A way for the boy to move his body, get out all his energy, and have some time to be alone with his thoughts or simply calm himself down from a particularly grueling nightmare, much like the one he just had. Running allowed Buggy to clear his head and work out whatever problems he was having while still feeling he’s doing something productive, which was a good thing, considering how restless he could get whenever he wasn’t doing something to keep his brain occupied.

The blue haired boy eventually comes to a stop just outside the gates of the kingdom this island housed. It was a relatively small kingdom, having a population of only a couple hundred people, but a kingdom nonetheless, fit with bustling marketplaces, street vendors selling delicious smelling food, shops of all kinds lining the streets, and armed guards standing at the entrance. Of course, being the middle of the night, the kingdom was fast asleep, not due to wake for another couple hours or so, even the night guards could be seen snoozing up on the watchtowers.

It looked like a quaint little kingdom on the outside, and to be fair, it looked quite nice on the inside too, but spending any length of time within the kingdom will reveal the deep dark secrets that it holds, along with the horrors that Buggy and the other Roger pirates witnessed the day before.

The memory of having to watch those poor, innocent people be ripped from their home and their family, watch the children, probably no older than 6 or 7 by the looks of them, scream and sob as whips and clubs were brought down upon their delicate flesh, watch as the mother and father begged the king to do whatever he pleased to them, so long as he spared their children, it all caused his stomach to twist and wrench, his heart to pound harshly against his rib cage, and his hands to shake and tremble uncontrollably. Memories he had tried to forget, or at the very least repress, came flooding back to him in endless waves that would have sent him into a full blown rage had Shanks not been there to hold Buggy back, preventing him from bursting out from the crowd and sinking his knives into that pathetic excuse for a human being. Of course such an action would have not only put Buggy in a very dangerous position, as killing a king often does, but it would also give away the location and presence of the other Roger pirates as well, which would have only lead to further issues and conflicts down the line.

Oh, how sickeningly ironic that he couldn’t bring himself to look away from a scene that caused him such pain and torment.

As Buggy moves on from his pensive daze, picking his pace back up to where it was before, he allows himself to wonder what will become of the innocent civilians he saw brutalized in the street the day before. Will they be released and allowed to return to their everyday lives? Will they be forced to live out the rest of their days as slaves, to be done with as their new master sees fit? Did they even survive the initial beating they received? The parents are probably fine. The kids on the other hand… well, let’s just say that Buggy’s inner cynicist doubts that kids that young would have been able to survive such a brutal beating. 

Buggy knows that he’ll likely never know the answer to any of those questions, and trying to find out will likely only land him in a similar situation. But still, as Buggy continues his spring around the island, he can’t help the intrusive thoughts that plague his mind, bouncing around the inside of his skull, demanding his full attention.

Buggy wonders...

If only there was something that could be done.

If only there was something Buggy could do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t really have too much to say for this chapter other than I hope that you enjoyed it and are enjoying where I’m taking this story so far. I’m trying to add as much context to things as possible but if you’re still a little confused, the first chapter I posted was a nightmare that buggy had about the eradication of his home village by the marines when he was 5. The two adults in that chapter were his parents, the blue haired woman being his mother and the dark haired red-nosed man being his father obviously. Of course since it was a nightmare, I doubt that the night went exactly the same way as it was portrayed in his nightmare, but it was a very traumatizing night for Buggy that still haunts him even later on as an adult, but he’s figuring out how to deal with it and even though it was a very bad thing that happened to him, he now has a lovely family in the form of the Roger pirates, so things worked out alright for him in the end, I suppose. Anyways I’m rambling so I’m gonna end this here. Thanks again for reading my fics, make sure to leave a comment letting me know what you thought of this chapter (and the story as a whole so far) and as always, I hope to see you all soon for chapter 3. Bye!!!!!


	3. Two Sides of the Same Coin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Buggy has long since lost track of how much time has passed since he first started running, but the light beginning to come over the horizon is a telltale sign that it's been a while. As the sun begins to rise, signaling the start of morning, Buggy makes his way back to the Oro Jackson, rubbing the sweat off his face with his shirt as he walks up the gangplank. He runs into something solid.

“What the fu- oh, hey Dad” Buggy greets, upon noticing that the solid object he ran into was, in fact, his father.

“Well good morning to you too, Blue Bug” Roger chuckles as he turns around and notices Buggy, reaching to pat the young teen on the head.

“You’re up unusually early this morning, are we setting sail already?” Buggy asks curiously.

Roger shakes his head. “No, not yet, just had a hard time sleeping last night so I figured I’d get up and do something productive. Seems as though I’m not the only one” the raven haired man comments.

Buggy sighs, averting his gaze, which only affirms Roger’s previous statement.

“Another nightmare?” Roger asks, moving to lean against the railing of the ship, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Ya.”

“Same one as before?”

“Isn’t it always?” Buggy replies bitterly, moving to stand next to his father. 

Roger casts a sympathetic look down at the young boy.

“You seem to have gotten better at handling them though” Roger comments. “The first few years you were on board you’d wake up the whole ship with your screaming, and you’d cry for hours afterwards too.”

“I’m 14 years old, Dad, that sort of behavior isn’t exactly appropriate for someone my age” Buggy counters.

“Ya, so? I’m a 52 year old man, you think I give a shit about whether or not eating ice cream for breakfast or ‘tp-ing’ a navy base is considered “appropriate” behavior for someone my age?”

Buggy laughs. “Ok, point taken, but still, I’m not a little kid anymore. I can’t keep the whole ship up all night with my screaming and crying because of some stupid nightmares about a night I don’t even really remember anymore.”

“I know what you mean, but unfortunately that’s not quite how trauma works” Roger says solemnly.

Buggy rolls his eyes. “Oh please, like you’re in any position to lecture me on the effects of trauma.”

“Hey, I’m not saying I’m any better” Roger counters, holding his hands up defensively. “Trust me kiddo, I've got more skeletons in my closet than any one man should, and I’ve spent my fair share of time drowning those skeletons in alcohol and drugs. I’m not saying this to try and belittle you, I’m saying it because I want you to learn from my mistakes and avoid wasting years of your life wallowing in a pit of anger and self-hatred.”

“I take it there’s a story to accompany this advice?” Buggy asks, raising a questioning eyebrow at the taller man standing next to him.

Roger shrugs his shoulders. “There is, but it’ll have to wait until you’re older.”

“You say that for every story about your childhood. I’m starting to get the feeling that you don’t want anybody to know anything about your life from before you left Loguetown and became a pirate” Buggy huffs, his face curling into a pout.

Roger chuckles, wrapping his arm around the boy and pulling him into his side. “Buggy, there are many things about me and my early years that I’d prefer for you and the others to not know about.”

“Why’s that?” Buggy asks.

A long moment of silence passes as Buggy watches Roger gaze out into the distance, a thoughtful, almost ashamed look plastered across his rugged features.

“Let’s just say that the person I was as a child and a young adult is… very different from the person that I was when I met Rayleigh, and even more so from the person I am now” Roger says. “I won’t go too deeply into detail about it, but I got to a point in my life where I had two choices. I could either continue to be the flaming piece of shit that I was and waste the rest of my life sitting on my ass in Loguetown where it's safe and nothing fun ever happens, or…”

Roger pauses, looking down at Buggy, a soft smile spreading across his face.

“Or what?” Buggy repeats, waiting in anticipation for Roger to finish.”

“Or…” the raven haired man begins, “I could stop being such a monumental piss-baby, take a chance, get off my ass, get the ever living fuck out of Loguetown, and take control of my goddamn life for once. And I did exactly that. Now, here I am, almost 34 years later, captain of my own crew, sailing freely all over the world with no one telling me what to do, alongside the family that I found along the way.”

Another moment of silence passes.

“Ok? And your point is…?” Buggy asks, slightly confused.

Roger’s smile falls into a deadpan expression as he pinches the bridge of his nose. He lightly flicks Buggy on the forehead before speaking.

“My point is that people change. Some people change because they have to, others change because they want to. You and I are the kind of people who changed because we wanted to, we had a bunch of shitty shit happen to us, but we weren’t gonna let that determine who we are or what we do in life. That’s what my point is” Roger says.

“Ok, I guess that makes sense, but it doesn’t really do much to stop the nightmares” Buggy says.

“And maybe it never will” Roger replies with a shrug of his shoulders. “Moving on from all the shit you went through doesn’t always mean that you forget what happened and that it doesn't have an effect on you anymore, it just means that you’re not going to let the effect it has on you dictate what you’re going to do with your life. That’s all.”

Buggy looks up at Roger with a pensive expression, contemplating the advice he gave. Roger smiles down at him before getting up from the rail and beginning to walk toward the dining hall. He stops just before he enters through the door, turning back to look at Buggy.

“Bravery and fear are two sides of the same coin, Bug, you can’t have one without the other. But what separates the hero from the coward depends on whether a man is willing to do what he feels is right despite being afraid, or if he’ll allow his fear to control him in every aspect of his life. Keep that in mind, and I’m sure you’ll figure it all out” Roger says with a wink, before exiting the main deck and heading down to the dining hall, leaving Buggy by himself on the main deck with his thoughts.

“Two sides of the same coin, huh?” Buggy says aloud as he gazes pensively out into the calm rise and fall of the ocean waves, but after a few moments of gazing he looks down at the ground, noticing a dark figure against the wood of the deck. His shadow. 

The morning sun is now fully risen over the horizon, it’s bright light chasing away the darkness of the night. But not all darkness flees with the encroaching presence of daylight.

As the light grows stronger with the sun rising into the sky, so too does the dark and distorted shadow it casts against the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s. About. To Get. GOOD!!!!!!!
> 
> Oh and Papa Roger makes an appearance. Gotta sneak in my Good Dad!Roger somehow!!!


	4. Jail Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Roger was right.

Bravery is not the absence of fear, but rather the willingness to do something even though you are afraid. 

Buggy had never really considered himself very brave. His fighting style revolved around speed and agility, doing little bits of damage here and there as he passes by his enemy, staying out of their reach and wearing them down over time until they either collapse from exhaustion, or are weak enough to not be able to get away from one of Buggy’s more powerful attacks. He wasn’t a coward necessarily, as he had no qualms with fighting people who were physically stronger than him, given he stuck to what he was good at and had time to plan out a strategy of some sort. However, he wasn’t brave like Roger or Shanks, who would clash head on with people 10 times as strong as them, using only their strength and sheer will and determination to come out on top. Buggy didn’t have the luxury of being able to will his way through a fight; he had to be smart, tactical, precise, agile, and fast if he wanted to win a battle. Those were the things that made him a force to be reckoned with.

The reason why Buggy had never really thought of himself as brave, is because he was always scared. Scared when he fought people, scared that he wasn’t good enough of a fighter or strong enough to beat someone. Scared that he would one day be left behind by Shanks and the others when they finally realized that there was no place in the crew for someone who relied more on their brains than their muscles. Logically Buggy knew that none of those were actually valid things to be scared of, but the fact that he still felt scared always caused him to refrain from ever even thinking of himself as brave, even if he had just gone out and risked his life doing some crazy stunt to save a crew member or steal information from the marines, the fact that he was scared must have meant that he wasn’t really brave, right?

Well, according to Roger, apparently this wasn’t true, and Buggy was about to prove it, both to the world, and himself.

Buggy’s seen just how cruel and vile and downright evil the people in power can be toward those they are meant to protect. He knows that there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of kingdoms all over the world being ruled by these sick and twisted sorts of leaders, and even more people who are forced to suffer under their reign of terror. Buggy hasn’t seen all of them, but he’s seen enough of them, and this one was the last straw.

A group of random passerby’s, 10 of them, all randomly picked out of the streets and brought before their king, who sat upon a throne made of ornately carved wood and red satin fabric that was carried by 4 large men held in chains. Slaves.

About 6 of 7 guards plowed through the streets, grabbing people, men, women, and children alike, by the arms or necks and hurling them onto their knees before the bemused ruler, who seemed to take a great deal of pleasure in seeing his people suffer. The people begged their king to have mercy, to spare their miserable lives, their families shouted and wept from the sidelines, being held back by the armed guards. The king merely smiled, before releasing an awful high-pitched laugh that sent sickening shivers down Buggy’s spine. The king snapped his fingers, and the armed guards descended upon the unsuspecting poor, unsuspecting “chosen”.

The crowd watched in horror, disgust, and fear as the 10 hostages were brutally beaten and tortured, unable to defend themselves against the guard’s clubs and swords. By the time the king called off the horrific attack, the 10 civilians were little more than bloodied corpses that lay, still breathing thankfully, but totally unmoving in the middle of the street, before being thrown carelessly onto the back of a cart, and transported back to the castle, where their “benevolent ruler” would undoubtedly take pleasure in killing off the weak ones and making slaves out of the ones that survive his brutal torment.

This was not the first time that Buggy had witnessed such a heinous crime committed against innocent civilians, and unfortunately this wasn’t even the most brutal treatment he’d ever seen either. The Grand Line was full of many monstrous things, the New World even more so, and this applies to the people in power as well. But what made this instance different from all the rest, was the words of advice that Roger had given him a few weeks ago ringing out inside his head.

** _“What separates the hero from the coward depends on whether a man is willing to do what he feels is right despite being afraid, or if he’ll allow his fear to control him in every aspect of his life.”_ **

Buggy is afraid, no, he’s terrified of what he’s about to do, but he’s not going to let that stop him this time. Not anymore.

The crew has long since gone to sleep when Buggy finally gets up from his bed, tiptoeing quickly and quietly around the room to avoid waking Shanks as he gets dressed in a simple t-shirt and black pants, and exits their shared room, throwing the dark, hooded cloak he swiped from Rayleigh earlier that day over himself, concealing all his most distinguishable features and helping him blend in better with the darkness of the night. 

After spending so long on the Oro Jackson, Buggy has long since learned how to maneuver around the ship without making even the slightest bit of noise, which lends itself well to what he’s about to attempt.

Buggy makes a quick stop by the armory, where he grabs his gas mask, gifted to him by Crocus to protect his lungs from some of the more “potent” chemicals he works with, his knives, which he tucks under neath the cloak and on the inside of his pant leg, a few other bits and bobs that he grabs for a “just in case” kind of situation, and lastly, a pair of metal gauntlets that he straps to his arms.

The gauntlets are one of Buggy’s newer inventions, still in the process of being developed and are an attempt at creating a weapon that is both easier and lighter to use and maneuver with while he’s fighting, but can also be extended and retracted on command so that he doesn't have to worry about accidentally stabbing himself with his own damn knives as he’s flipping and flying around in the air avoiding incoming attacks. The scar on his lower abdomen is the catalyst for creating such an invention. 

After securing the gauntlets to his forearms, Buggy rolls the sleeves down to cover the bands of metal, puts the gas mask over the bottom half of his face and takes a step back, assessing himself in the mirror for a moment. He looks unassuming, like just a random person in a hooded cloak, which is good, considering that drawing attention to himself is the last thing he wants to do. The gas mask might be a bit harder to explain in the event he gets stopped by a crown’s guard or a random passerby, but if all else fails he could just say that he’s sick and didn’t want to spread any germs. People tend to not need further clarification if sickness or disease is brought up.

Taking a deep breath, Buggy lifts his arms up, crossing them over his chest like an X, before quickly extending them out to his sides. A pair of sharpened, double-edged blades come shooting out of Buggy’s sleeves, glinting dangerously in the darkened room despite the lack of light. Buggy flicks his wrists back and the blades immediately disappear back into his sleeve. The blue haired teen looks at himself in the mirror one last time, his bright green eyes the only human feature that stands out underneath the hood and mask. 

He’s ready.

At the moment, nothing is more terrifying to Buggy in this moment, than the 40 to 50 foot drop that looms below him as he leaps from rooftop to rooftop, quickly and quietly making his way toward the center of the kingdom the Roger pirates were docked at, where Buggy’s target, or rather targets, were located.

The civilians. The innocent people who were ripped from their homes and unjustly enslaved by their own damn ruler. They were his targets, and if everything went Buggy’s way, they would very soon have their freedom back. At least that was his goal anyways, but at the moment, Buggy still wasn't entirely sure as to how he was going to accomplish that goal. Oh well, he’d just have to do some quick recon and come up with a plan on the fly. 

He’d already come this far, he wasn't backing down now.

To be fair, Buggy had managed to do a little bit of scouting earlier that day, when the idea of breaking in and freeing a bunch of enslaved prisoners from a corrupt monarch still seemed ridiculous, but not entirely undoable, and based on what he discovered, the idea began seeming less ridiculous and more like something Buggy could actually pull off if he played his cards right.

With a swift and powerful jump, Buggy launches himself over the last gap that separates the commonwealth of the city from the castle and grabs onto the huge stone wall that stands guard outside the castle grounds. Having made it over his last hurdle, Buggy takes a deep breath, steeling himself for a moment, before pulling himself up, onto, and then over the stone wall, disappearing into the courtyard.

The castle itself was pretty small compared to most of the kingdom’s that Buggy has seen in his travels with the Rogers along the Grand Line and New World, but it was thankfully still big enough to allow Buggy plenty of places to hide and sneak around, avoiding the careful gazes of the crownsguard on duty. From what Buggy had learned from his own observations, as well as what the people in the city had told him, the majority of the crownsguard were stationed outside in the courtyard, as well as on the top floor of the castle, where the king’s quarters were located. This made getting into the castle and getting at the king rather difficult, but hopefully that meant that the dungeons, where the prisoners were being kept, would be nearly empty of crownsguard.

Getting inside the castle was a no brainer as far as Buggy was concerned. He had no doubts that he’d be able to sneak in and find the prisoners, but setting them free and then getting them all out safely without getting caught? Now that might be a bit trickier, but succeed or fail, Buggy was determined to at least try.

Looking around at his surroundings to make sure that the coast was clear, Buggy takes a deep breath before gunning it across the final stretch of the courtyard. Using the speed he gained, Buggy jumps up, quickly and silently climbing the castle wall to reach an open window he’d caught a glance of just moments ago, before finally disappearing inside, narrowly avoiding being caught by the crownsguard that rounds the corner just seconds later, completely oblivious to the intruder that just snuck inside the castle he was meant to protect.

Jumping down from the window, Buggy immediately rushes over to a patch of shadow in the corner of the room, concealing himself in the darkness as he gathers his wits about him, and assesses where the hell he is right now. Based on the tables, knives, and refrigerators, Buggy guesses that this is probably the kitchen, or at the very least a pantry of some kind, which means that he’s successfully managed to infiltrate the main part of the castle.

Now comes the hard part, which is finding a way out of this place before going down and releasing the prisoners from their cells in the dungeons, and getting them the absolute fuck out of here.

Remaining in his spot hidden in the shadows, Buggy detaches his left eye and sends it out of the kitchens through a hole in the bottom of the door, using the floating eyeball to survey the area immediately outside the door. Just as he suspected, the hallway is totally empty save for one or two guards who can be heard patrolling a little ways down the hall. So long as those two stay where they are, Buggy should be able to avoid them easily.

As much as Buggy absolutely detested his lack of ability to swim anymore in the aftermath of accidentally eating the Chop Chop Fruit, it was at times like these when Buggy couldn’t deny how helpful it was to be able to split his body apart at will and control them as he pleased. Being able to send his eyes or ears out to do a little bit of espionage while the rest of him stayed hidden was a more recent, but incredibly useful skill, that Buggy has developed in his training, and if this situation was any indication, Buggy was going to be getting a lot of use out of it in the future as well.

Once his eyeball is back in its socket where it belongs, Buggy gets up from his spot and quietly makes his way out of the kitchen before heading down the hallway opposite the one with the two crowns guards in them.

Although this castle isn't nearly as big of some of the ones Buggy has seen on other islands, it's still big enough that it takes him a solid hour or so to go through all the rooms in the hallway he selected, checking them thoroughly for any potential means of escape, before finally moving on to the next one. 

Just when Buggy is about to resign himself to having to search the entire castle to find a way out for the prisoners, he stumbles upon the bathroom, a rather large room considering that it was designated for the servants. It was then that an idea popped into Buggy’s head, and after some light searching, the boy brightened, momentarily allowing himself to jump around in joyous victory as he found the exact thing he was looking for.

In the corner of the bathroom, hidden underneath one of the baths, was a moderately sized hole, covered by a metal grate that, with a little bit of fiddling, would pop open, allowing anyone who desired to jump down into the drainage pipes leading out of the castle, and out into the city’s main sewer system. It wasn’t the cleanest means of escape by any means, but given the conditions they were in right now, Buggy doubts the prisoners will complain too much, so long as they are able to get out of here for good.

A wave of confidence rushing over him, Buggy exits the bathroom, making sure to remember the way back to the bathroom for later, as he books it down the hallway in search of the dungeons. 

The entrance to the dungeons are marked by a pair of large wooden doors, with metal details that line the surface of the wood, as well as two large metal handles. Unfortunately there’s also a guard standing posted in front of the door, and with no other way to sneak through the door and into the dungeons, Buggy was going to have to take him out.

Taking a deep breath, Buggy steels himself, readying up for the surprise attach he was about to conduct. Waiting for the moment when the guard turns his back on the spot where Buggy is hidden, the boy pours all his strength into his legs and leaps toward the guard, raising his elbow before bringing it down on the back of his neck, right at the top of his spine, where the helmet fails to protect against incoming attacks. The guard immediately goes limp and drops to the ground in an unconscious pile, dropping his weapon with a loud clang.

Buggy waits for a moment to make sure that no one is coming to check on the sudden loud noise, before picking the crownsguard up by the arms and dragging him into the nearest supply closet, tying up his arms, legs, and mouth with some tape he brought with him, and locking him inside. With that pesky guard now dealt with, Buggy can now return to his original task of finding the prisoners and breaking them free.

Confident that there wouldn’t be any guards down in the dungeons, Buggy sprints down the long flight of stairs as fast as his stubby little legs will allow him, nearly tripping and falling several times before he finally reaches the bottom. Empty cells line both sides of the long hallway as Buggy continues his reckless sprinting, casting only a glance inside as he passes by.

It isn't until Buggy catches a glimpse of human-like figures slumped together in one of the cells that the blue-haired boy finally skids to a halt, slipping slightly in his haste, before running up to the metal bars.

“There you are” Buggy says aloud, relief filling his voice that he was finally able to find them. The civilians are battered and beaten pretty badly, and are covered in cuts, bruises, and blood, but thankfully the worse injuries were wrapped and bandaged by whatever doctor was onsite, and save for the external injuries, everyone seemed to be more or less ok. Unfortunately the civilians don’t seem quite as happy to see Buggy as he is to see them.

A weary old man staggers to his feet and places himself between Buggy and the rest of the prisoners, holding his hands up defensively, his eyes filled with fear. “P-please, no more torturing. We’ve done everything you’ve asked of us and we don’t want to cause any more trouble. Please, we just want to be left alone, tell the king to have some mercy on us” the man pleads, his body shaking slightly, though whether its from fear or general exhaustion, Buggy can’t tell.

“No, no, it’s ok, I’m not one of the guards, see” Buggy assures, lowering his hood and taking the gas mask off, revealing his face. 

Several surprised looks flash across the adults’ faces as they take in the features of their supposed “savior”. 

The old man speaks up again, this time his voice firmer and more threatening. “Well, if you’re not one of the guards then, who are you and what are you doing here? Answer me now” he demands, puffing his chest out in an attempt to look bigger. Unfortunately for him however, Buggy has seen more threatening looking things crawl out of the bathroom sink, so his attempts to scare Buggy only result in mild chuckling from the boy.

“Relax will you, I’m not gonna hurt you. I came to get you all out of here” Buggy assures.

“Get us all out?” The old man says in confused shock. “What on earth do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what it sounds like, old man. What you got a hearing problem or something?” Buggy teases lightly, though the old man doesn’t seem to share the humor.

Another man speaks up. “It’s too dangerous here for you, kid. Out fates have already been decided for us by the royal court, and there’s nothing we can do to change that. I don’t know how you managed to get all the way down here without being caught or even seen by the royal guards, but it’ll be better for everyone in the long run if you leave the way you came and go home, before you end up just like us.”

Buggy smirks. “Ya, I suppose that would be the smart thing to do, now wouldn’t it? Too bad for you guys though. I’m not the kind of person who just gives up on something halfway, if I say I’m gonna do something, then you bet your bottom fucking dollar that I’m gonna find a way to do it, and this is no different. I also happen to take a great deal of issue with the idea of other people’s fates being decided for them, it’s a lovely little trait I inherited from my dad, so you can thank him for that. Fact of the matter is that I’m not leaving here without you, so knock it off with the pity party and get up so we can go” Buggy says, as though he’d just suggested they all go grab some milk from the grocery store, rather than escape from a highly guarded fortress.

“But… how on earth are you going to help all of us escape, it’ll be nearly impossible to do on your own. Why you’re just a child” a woman says, her voice laced in disbelief as she clutches her child to her chest protectively.

Buggy grimaces in displeasure. “Ya well, this  **child ** is about to bust all your asses out of prison, so maybe you could show me a little more gratitude for all the effort I’ve put in tonight” Buggy says, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a lock pick, before getting to work on picking the lock to the cell door, taking a great deal of pleasure in seeing all the shocked and impressed faces he gets when the lock clicks and the cell door swings open only a moment or so later.

“So” Buggy begins, a confident smile spread across his face as he holds the cell door open, “who feels like getting out of here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much to really say other than I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think of the story so far down in the comments below and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 5. Bye! <333333


	5. Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

“Are you sure this is a good idea” a young man asks apprehensive as Buggy leads the group of civilians up the stairs and toward the bathroom he had found earlier in the night. 

“If you have any better ideas, feel free to voice them” Buggy says in a hushed tone, and the group of course remains quiet, so Buggy takes that as a sign of cooperation and continues up the ridiculously long flight of stairs, which is taking a lot longer to get through now that he can’t sprint up them at a million miles an hour like he normally would. 

Upon arriving at the top of the steps, Buggy motions for the group of civilians to stay put while he goes and checks to make sure the coast is clear.

Just as he’s about to call for them to come forward, Buggy hears voices coming down the hall and immediately hides behind the door, pulling his mask and hood back up as he sends his ear to get a better listen as to what’s going on.

“And would you look at that. What did I fuckin’ tell ya. Gone again without so much as a word of notice” one of the crownsguards says, pointing to the spot where the guard Buggy had taken out earlier should have been.

The other guard pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. That’s the third time this week he’s gone and disappeared on us during a patrol. I swear that kid is gonna be the reason someone gets in here one day.”

Buggy can’t help but chuckle lightly at the irony. That guard he took out was certainly the reason he was able to get in and free the prisoners, but it wasn't due to his negligence or lack of responsibility like his fellow guards seem to think.

The first guard sighs, moving toward the front doors. “Well, I guess the only thing left to do is to go find him and set him straight.”

“Should we check on the new slaves just in case?” The second guard asks.

Buggy freezes for a moment, fear and panic momentarily taking over at the thought of potentially being caught. His panic is soon alleviated however, when the first guard waves his hand in dismissal.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. They’re locked up nice and tight down there with no way of getting out. No point in going up and down all those stairs when we already know that they won’t be going anywhere, am I right?”

“Ya, you’ve got a point there” the second guard agree, before finally moving to follow his colleague out the front door in search of their missing colleague.

Buggy breathes a sigh of relief before peaking out once again, double checking that it was safe. “Ok, the coast is clear. You can come up now” Buggy whispers, prompting a few of the braver civilians to slowly make their way up the remaining stairs and out into the main foyer of the castle.

Buggy waits until all the prisoners are out before quietly closing the dungeon doors and wordlessly beginning to lead them all to the servants bathroom he found earlier, closing and locking the door behind him once everyone is inside the large bathroom.

“Ok, I didn’t really have much time to look for a way out, but I did find a service pipe leading down into the sewers that should be big enough for everyone to fit into” Buggy says, moving the tub that covered the manhole out of the way and using one of his knives to wiggle it open with the help of two of the other men. “It won’t be the cleanest escape ever, but given how little time we have until sunrise, it's about our only option… unless you’d prefer to call it a night and go back to the cell downstairs.”

The civilians exchange unsure looks amongst one another as they weigh their options, trying to figure out if they should really trust Buggy or not. It takes a few moments, but soon enough the civilians unanimously come to the decision that taking the risk and trusting that Buggy was actually trying to help them was far better than staying in the castle and waiting to see what horrible fate their “king” had in store for them come morning.

“I’ll go first” the man who first spoke up when Buggy found the prisoners downstairs in the dungeons says, breaking away from the group and beginning to lower himself down the metal ladder, with mild assistance from Buggy, and into the sewer system below.

“How does it look down there?” Buggy calls down. 

“It’s not as bad as I thought it would be. The water only goes up to my ankles which is good, but it’s nearly pitch black” the old man replies. “There isn't any light coming in from outside, so unless you have a torch of some kind on you, I don’t see how we’re going to find our way out of here.”

“I have a flashlight in my pack, I’ll bring it out once everybody is down” Buggy says, before turning back to the rest of the group. “Ok, who’s next?”

Slowly but surely, Buggy helps each of the civilians climb their way down the metal ladder and into the sewers, making sure to remain constantly aware of how long they had until sunrise, as well as any indication that the guards had realized the prisoners had escaped. So far things seem to be going pretty well, and before long, all the civilians have been helped down into the sewers, allowing Buggy to finally climb down the ladder himself, making sure to close the cover tightly behind him. Hopefully if they did end up being found out sooner rather than later, the tightly closed cover would buy them some time.

Taking his flashlight out of his back pocket, Buggy turns it on as he quickly descends down the metal ladder, joining the rest of the civilians in the murky waters of the sewers.

“Ok, now what?” A young woman asks, her voice echoing off the sides of the cobblestone walls.

“Well, since I’m assuming that the whole kingdom is connected via these sewage pipes, hopefully the best way to get out of here will be to just follow them until we reach either the place where all the water drains out of the kingdom, or, we find another manhole that we can crawl out of and sneak you all out of the city some other way” Buggy replies.

“But where will we go after that?” A young man asks nervously. “Even if we do manage to successfully escape, it's not like we can just return to our lives in the city, the crownsguard will search the whole kingdom and hunt us down until we’re recaptured, and who knows how badly we’ll be punished after that.”

“Uh… I haven’t gotten that far in the planning process yet” Buggy admits bashfully as he begins walking through the murky waters in the opposite direction of the castle.

“What do you mean you haven’t gotten that far?” The old man asks suspiciously, following closely behind the hooded boy.

“Exactly what you think it means” Buggy responds curtly.

“Wait, hold on a second” Another man pipes up. “You mean to tell me that you successfully managed to break into the castle, find your way down to the dungeons, break us out, find some crazy hole in the ground that we can use to get out of the castle, corral us all into the fucking sewers, and yet after all that, you still don’t know how we’re going to escape from here?”

“Well I don’t see you offering any helpful words of advice” Buggy snaps, turning to glare harshly as the man who spoke. “Listen, I might not really know what I’m doing or why I’m standing in a pool of dirty shit water, but all I know is that I saw what that “king” of yours did to you, what he’s willing to do to the people of his domain for his own amusement, and I’ve seen plenty more people all over the world suffer the exact same fate as you did, maybe even worse in some situations, and you know what, I’m  **fucking sick of it** .”

Looks of shock and surprise flash across the civilians’ faces at the sudden outburst, but Buggy isn’t finished yet.

“I’ve been traveling around the world for nearly 10 years now and I’ve seen some of the most ridiculous, outrageous, out-of-this-world things that I never imagined in my wildest dreams I’d ever get to see, and yet, on nearly every island we go to, it’s all the same. Evil monarchs, corrupt officials, secret crime circles that go completely unchecked because they have the police force practically sitting in their back pockets, and every single time, whenever something bad happens, it's always the civilians, the innocent bystanders that had absolutely nothing to do with whatever the fuck was going on, who have to face the consequences of the poor decisions of their leaders make, and you know what? I’m done. I’m tired of seeing innocent people being thrown around and mistreated by the people above them who are abusing their powers and authority so that they can get away with whatever they want. So, if nobody else is gonna do anything about it, then guess what? I’m gonna do somethings g about it, so if you were expecting some Prince Charming to come and save you and solve all your problems for you, then I’m sorry to disappoint, but you’re stuck with me. If you don’t like it, you’re more than welcome to go back upstairs and wait to see what your king has in store for you in the morning, would you prefer to do that?” Buggy says, finishing his long winded rant by crossing his arms over his chest, fixing the group of civilians with a stern look.

A long moment of silence passes as the civilians all stare at Buggy, some of them with apprehension and distrust, others with awe and inspiration. The young man who spoke up earlier, prompting Buggy’s rant, opens his mouth to speak again, but the old man who volunteered to climb down the ladder first puts his hand up and shakes his head, stopping the young man from speaking, before turning to Buggy.

“No please, forgive our rudeness. We’re all just a little shocked that a foreigner with no ties to us or this kingdom is putting themselves in such danger in order to save us. Most of the citizens of this kingdom are too fearful of the king’s wrath to ever even think of doing something like this, even for their own loved ones, so a stranger doing this is… a bit suspicious, if I’m being honest, but even though we still don’t know who you are exactly, I can tell now that you’re intentions are pure and true. I apologize if it sounded like we were questioning your motives or being ungrateful” the man says apologetically.

Buggy narrows his eyes, glaring at the old man for a moment, before turning around with a huff. “Whatever, it’s fine. Look, we’re running out of time, we lose the cover of night once the sun rises and that’ll just make finding you that much easier for the guards, not to mention that they’ll know exactly how we got out once the servants wake up and notice one of their tubs was moved out of the way. Let’s just keep moving for now, and we’ll worry about everything else later.”

“Very well” the old man agrees, motioning for everyone to follow behind Buggy as he finally begins to advance further and further into the sewers, using the flashlight to illuminate the otherwise dark and desolate surroundings.

Hours seem to go by before Buggy finally notices something in the distance. Not a light necessarily, but definitely something brighter than the pitch darkness that they’ve been walking in for god knows how long. 

“Mommy look, I can see the outside” a young boy shouts happily, pointing to what Buggy now can tell is an opening at the end of the tunnel they were walking in, and not only was it an opening, but it was the end of the sewer line, leading out onto the sandy shores of the beach outside the outer walls of the kingdom.

“We’re free. We’re actually free” the former-prisoners all shout and cheer as they run up to climb out of the large pipe, running around on the beach in sheer joy and happiness to finally be free again. 

Buggy lowers his hood and mask again as he smiles warmly at the display, pleased to see that his efforts actually paid off, and that he’d finally done something to fight back against the corruption that plagues this world and those who inhabit it, while helping some innocent people along the way.

The old man turns to Buggy, his eyes shining brightly and his face filled with joy and gratitude, and is about to say something, before a commotion from the upper part of the wall catches Buggy’s attention.

“Everyone! Quiet down!” Buggy orders, and the civilians immediately obey, slowly moving toward Buggy as he sends an ear up to get a closer listen.

A woman’s eyes widen in shock. “A devil fruit user? So they actually do exist?”

Buggy chuckles. “Ya, but they’re a way bigger pain in the ass than you’d think. I must admit though, they do have their… advantages” Buggy says vaguely, before shushing the civilians and finally focusing his attention on what his disembodied ear hears from its spot floating by a guard post.

“We’ve received word from the castle that the prisoners King Hammonly brought in yesterday have managed to escape somehow” a guard reports.

“What do you mean? They got out of their cells?” A second guard asks.

“No, I mean they’ve managed to escape the castle grounds completely. A pair of guards went down to check on them after discovering another soldier tied up and locked in a supply closet, only to find that the cell was completely empty. A servant later informed the guards that one of the bathtubs in the servants’ washroom had been moved out of the way from where it originally sat, and although the grate underneath it was locked tight, it’s likely that they somehow made their way into the sewers and have snuck into the city somewhere.”

“But how, we stripped everything save for their clothes off of them. There’s no way they should have been able to pick the cell locks, much less open the grate to the waterway system on their own. Unless... is there an intruder?”

“We don’t know. None of the guards inside or outside the castle walls reported seeing anything out of the ordinary throughout their watches, and while it’s possible that the prisoners could have taken out one of the guards and shoved him in the supply closet on their own, there’s no way they would have been able to find that manhole in the bathroom without  **someone ** seeing them. I’m guessing someone must have snuck into the castle and freed them, and is now trying to sneak them out of the city, so we have to find them before that happens, or King Hammonly will have all our heads, you understand?”

“Yes, sir.”

Buggy calls his ear back once the conversation has ended, having heard enough to get an idea of what’s going on. He turns to the civilians, who had crowded around him.

“They know you’re gone” Buggy begins, but is cut off by a sudden outburst of panicked and worried questions.

The old man silences them all. “So what do we do now? Are we doomed, or is there still a chance we can escape before they find us?”

“Based on what I heard, nobody really knows what’s going on or how you managed to get out, and they’re convinced you’re still somewhere in the kingdom walls, so you’re safe for the time being, but it’ll only be a matter of time before they start searching the outer walls as well” Buggy says.

“So then we still have some time. That’s good to hear, but where do we go?” The old man asks.

Buggy reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a large pouch filled with bills and coins. He hands it to the old man.

“Take this” Buggy instructs. “On the eastern side of this island, there’s a small port town with a ferry that will take you to the nearest island. Use this to pay the toll and get out of here. You’re king’s jurisdiction is only valid on this island, so once you leave, he has no power over you, and you can use whatever money is left to start a new life on another island somewhere, free from whatever “fate” this shithead had in store for you.”

“But… we… I… we can’t accept this. You’ve already done so much for us, it wouldn’t be right” the old man stutters, looking down at the sack of money in his hands in utter disbelief, before trying to hand it back.

Buggy smiles, but pushes it back, wrapping the old man’s weathered fingers around the canvas pouch. “Please, just take it, I don’t need it. My dad spoils me absolutely rotten, and buys me whatever I want, even if I have the money to buy it for myself. Trust me, you’re not gonna get very far without a least a little change, so just take it and get out of here.”

A moment of silence passes, before the old man sighs, nodding in understanding as he puts the pouch of money into his pocket.

Buggy turns to regard the rest of the civilians, who are all staring at him in shock and awe. “Alright listen up, all of you” he begins. “I want you all to do as your told and behave yourselves. I went through an awful lot of trouble to get you your freedom back, so make sure you keep hold of it from now on, and don’t let anybody push you around or tell you what to do. You hear me?”

Silence prevails over the group of civilians, before the woman holding her child steps forward, placing the boy on the ground before pulling Buggy into a bruising hug, tears flowing down her cheeks. “Thank you! Thank you so much” she sobs, clutching onto Buggy like he was the last thing keeping her together.

Buggy stiffens awkwardly at the sudden contact, but slowly moves to pat her back reassuringly. The woman takes a deep breath, wiping away at the tears streaming down here face before stepping away, picking her child back up and moving to rejoin her group. 

The old man finally speaks up. “We can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for us today. We were nothing but suspicious of you at first, but you fulfilled your promise just as you said you would. Not only have you given us back our freedom, but you’ve also given us the hope that we can forge a better life for ourselves elsewhere. If it weren’t for you, we’d all still be sitting in that cell back at the castle, waiting for the inevitable demise our “king” was bound to bring upon us. You truly are a remarkable young man.”

Buggy blushes slightly at the compliment. “Ah, don’t worry about. My dad has this saying, “what separates the hero from the coward depends on whether a man is willing to do what he feels is right despite being afraid, or if he’ll allow his fear to control him in every aspect of his life”. I’m not much of a hero really but… I don’t know, I guess I just got tired of seeing people get pushed around by shitty monarchs who think they can do whatever they want. I mean, if nobody else is gonna step up and do what’s right then it might as well be me, right?” 

The old man laughs. “Yes, I suppose that’s a good mentality to have.”

Buggy smiles, before moving to turn and leave. “Well, I’d better get out of here, and you all should too. The ferry leaves at dawn, so make sure you get there and buy yourself some tickets before they sell out. Good luck!”

“Wait, hold on” a young man shouts, stopping Buggy before he gets too far.

He turns back. “What is it?” He asks.

“We never got your name” the young man says, and Buggy stiffens nervously at the statement.

“My name?” The boy asks dumbly.

“Yes please, tell us your name.”

“Ya, so that we’ll always be able to remember you and the great kindness you did for us.”

“Ya, tell us.”

“Please!”

Buggy rubs nervously at the back of his head, unsure of what to do. “Uuuuuuh… I’m not sure that’s the best idea.”

Well this was a situation that Buggy didn’t see coming. He hadn’t even thought of the possibility of the prisoners asking for his name, but now that they had, what did he do? Did he tell them the truth and given them his name? Or did he come up with a fake one and hope he never saw them again? At this point neither of those situations seemed like the best things to do. Sure telling them a fake name would be safest, but it would be just Buggy’s luck that he’d end up running into them again one day, only to have to break it to them that he’d given them a fake name for some strange reason. Then again, giving them his real name wasn’t ideal either, since there was the slight possibility that the civilians could be intercepted and recaptured before they got on the ferry and left the island, and by that point, rescuing them a second time would simply be out of the question. 

Sooner or later, somebody was bound to slip up and say his name when they were questioned about how they managed to escape in the first place, and while Buggy himself might not face any physical consequences for his act of heroism, his name could very well could be plastered in every newspaper in the area, and considering that none of the other Roger pirates know that Buggy is doing this, it would definitely not end very well for him if they did end up finding out. God only knows what Rayleigh would do to him if he found out about this. Hell, even Roger might tan his hide if he found out that his son had, once again, carelessly thrown himself into an incredibly dangerous situation with no forethought, no planning, no backup, and no guarantee that he’d even make it out alive. 

Buggy takes a great deal of issue with the amount of hypocrisy that comes up whenever his father yells at him for doing something dangerous and stupid, but considering that he’s always yelling at Roger for doing something dangerous and stupid, Buggy supposes that makes both of them hypocrites, so they’re even.

Looks of sadness and disappointment spread across the faces of the civilians as they realize that their savior doesn’t trust them, and Buggy can’t help the twang of guilt that sits in his chest like a rock over making them feel that way.

The old man speaks up. “It’s alright, we understand. You’ve already done so much for us, and I know that giving your name would be very-”

“Blue” Buggy blurts out, cutting the old man off before he can finish his statement. He looks up at Buggy in confusion, as do the rest of the civilians.

“What?” He asks.

“Blue” Buggy repeats. “Just… just call me Blue. Everybody else does.”

A large smile spreads across the old man’s face. “Very well then... Blue. On behalf of myself and everyone else here, I’d like to thank you, one last time, for everything you’ve done for us tonight. We won’t forget that incredible act of kindness you did for us, and we wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors. Take care”

“You too” Buggy says. “Now hurry up and get out of here. Before the idiots upstairs realize that their drainage system leads to outside the kingdom walls too.”

Buggy receives no response, other than a chorus of goodbyes and waves from the former prisoners, who quickly disappear into the forest, heading toward the eastern side of the island, where their true ticket to freedom waits. Once the group of civilians have disappeared from sight, Buggy allows the smile to finally drop from his face, quickly replaced with a look of anger and rage.

Buggy may have successfully freed one group of prisoners tonight, but he knows that there’ll only be another group gathered up to replace them by sundown today, and that’s only if the guards don’t manage to recapture the group Buggy just freed, which at this point is just as likely. 

That king. That greedy, sadistic, ruthless piece of shit might have lost one group of slaves today, but he still had an entire city of potential candidates just ready and waiting to be picked off and done with as he pleases, and there was no way that Buggy would be able to save all of them.

No. No, he couldn't accept that. There was no way in hell Buggy was leaving this island until he could be certain that every citizen was free and safe from that rotten bastard’s corrupt reign. But what could he do? He couldn’t stay here forever, and there was no way that asking to stay any longer in a boring-ass place like this wouldn’t arise suspicion from the other Roger’s.

“Dammit Buggy, think! There has to be something I can do” Buggy growls at himself, pacing back and forth as he tries to think of a plan.

A flash of light reflected against metal catches the boy’s attention. Raising his arm, Buggy slowly pulls up the sleeves of his coat, revealing his gauntlets, still strapped securely to his forearms. The escape plan had gone so much better than Buggy had expected it to, and he’d only needed to take out one guard throughout his time sneaking around the castle, so he hadn’t even gotten the chance to test out his new invention.

Looking away from the reflective surface of the gauntlets, Buggy crosses his arms over his chest before quickly extending them out to his sides, causing the sharpened blade hidden in the gauntlets to burst out, the metal of the blades glinting dangerously in the moonlit night, just like they had back on the Oro Jackson, when he’d fully resolved himself to what he was about to do.

Flicking his wrists so the blades return to their hiding places within the gauntlets, Buggy rolls his sleeves down, replacing his gas mask over his face and pulling the black hood of his cloak back over his head, once again concealing his face completely, save for the emerald green of his eyes.

Turning his attention back toward the kingdom, Buggy hops back into the sewage pipe he and the civilians had crawled out of just a little while earlier, and begins to sprint back toward the castle at breakneck speed.

With his first mission succeeded, Buggy now had a new mission to undertake. A mission that would ensure that all the citizens of this kingdom would be able to live freely and peacefully from now on, just like the people Buggy had saved tonight would be able to, and he wasn’t leaving this island until he saw that mission through to the end.

The king is about to go on trial, and this time, Buggy will be the one to determine what fate holds in store for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay Buggy freed the prisoners!!! Now the only thing left to do is deal with that pesky king! The next chapter is going to be written from the perspective of the crownsguards, and Dragowolf (who was kind enough to beta read this story for me) really really really enjoyed it, so I think the rest of you will as well!!!!!!! I’m having a lot of fun writing this, its a real blast, and so far all of you seem to be enjoying it too which I’m really glad about! Thanks so much for reading, make sure to let me know what you think of this down in the comments below and Ill see you all soon for chapter 6. Bye!!! <3


	6. The Shadow’s Judgement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

In the castle of an isolated kingdom somewhere in the New World, on a morning that, on the surface, doesn't seem to be different from any other morning, guards race around the castle grounds, spears and shields at the ready as they rush to fulfill the orders issued by their superiors. The only information they have to go on was the fearful and panicked last words of some of their fellow guards, who were about to return from searching the sewers for some escaped prisoners, before they were mercilessly slaughtered by whatever foul creature lurked in the dark and disgusting depths of the sewers.

**Something has gotten inside the castle.**

No words filled the residents of the castle, especially the king himself, with more panic or fear than hearing that something, not someone, but something, has gotten into the castle, and whatever it is, not only is it capable of taking out fully armed guards with ease, but it’s likely also capable of doing the very same to the rest of them, should they be unfortunate enough to cross paths with it.

“WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?”

“SHOOT IT, SHOOT IT!”

“COMMANDER, OUR BULLETS AREN’T WORKING, THEY JUST PASS RIGHT THROUGH IT!”

“SOMEBODY KILL THAT THING!”

Nobody knows or has even seen what this horrifying creature really is, but the shrill and terrified screams of crowns guards echoing down the halls is enough to make the incoming guards, who were tasked with providing backup to their fallen comrades, stop dead in their tracks. Fear and panic begin to fill their bodies, preventing them from taking either a step forward or back, as the screams from their fellow guards ceases, and a deafening silence falls over the halls of the castle. 

The darkness conceals the creature from view, but they all know it’s there, they can see the faint glow of it’s toxic green eyes staring at the slumped over figures at its feet. The dead corpses of their fellow crowns guards. 

One guard steps forward, brandishing his spear at the creature. “H-h-HALT f-FOUL BEAST! A-AS ONE OF THE G-GUARDS OF THIS FINE CASTLE, I D-DEMAND YOU C-C-CEASE YOUR THOUGHTLESS MURDER SPREE AND COME OUT I-INTO THE LIGHT WITH YOUR HANDS U-U-UP, THIS INSTANT!”

The green eyes snap to stare at the guard who just spoke to it, the glow of it’s almost florescently bright eyes intensifying as they bore into the very soul of the foolish mortal who dared to speak to it in such a way.

The guard falters, taking a step back, the other guards behind him doing the same.

“I-I promise w-w-we wo-o-n’t hurt you, i-i-if you co-o-operate with u-u-us, and c-c-come p-peacefully” the guard stutters, clearly saying this as a meager attempt to convince the creature to give itself up.

The creature continues to stare, not blinking, not moving, not even breathing, as it contemplates it’s next move. Soon after though, it does as the guards instructed it to, and moves away from the lifeless corpses of its former victims, but what emerges from the darkness of the shadows is not the large, hairy, barbaric-looking animal that the guards were all expecting, but rather a sinister looking figure of indescribable horror and nightmarish fantasy. 

The creature appears, at a quick glance, almost human in shape and appearance, but upon closer inspection it is clear that this thing, whatever it is, is anything but. The misty, see-through appearance of its blackened skin, to the way its body seems to expand and contract, pieces of it detaching and reattaching randomly as it seemingly struggles to maintain its corporeal form, to the fact that the creature did not actually make contact with the ground, it’s legs dangling from it’s hips, half-formed at best, as it floated a few feet in the air, revealing the horrifying nature of this unknown intruder.

The guards all stared at the creature in utter shock and terror, unable to move or even speak as it slowly descends upon them, those venom green eyes growing more and more defined as it lowers itself to their level, taking in the features of its next victims with sickening curiosity.

“I-I-I-I-IT’S A SHADOW MONSTER” the guard screams, prompting fearful screams and shouts to emerge from the other guards standing behind him, as they all turn on their heels and scramble to get away from the horrifying monster they were foolish enough to try and battle. But alas, they had already captured the demon’s attention, and it did not plan on letting them escape.

From the top-most room in the castle, a man sits in the corner of a large, lavishly decorated room, his whole body trembling in fear, as the terrifying sounds of his own guards, tasked with protecting his life even if it means sacrificing their own, being ripped to pieces by whatever inhuman monster has made its way into his castle.

King Hammonly III was a cowardly man by most people’s standards, who only came into the position of power he currently sat in due to an “unfortunate family accident” that left the kingdom without any ruling monarchs, making him the only blood-relative, and thus the only acceptable candidate, to take over as King. From the moment the crown had been placed upon his head, King Hammonly has lived a life filled with the most lavish luxuries that the kingdom’s gold store could buy, and he spared no expense when it came to ensuring that everyone within a 50 ft radio us would be able to tell that he is  **King** . 

Those who do not give proper appreciation to the glory and majesty that is King Hammonly III, are subject to punishment in the form of public beating and humiliation, making examples out of these disgusting peasant ingrates so that others will know what will happen should they not act accordingly when in his holy presence. And upon realizing how effective and fun it was to see those pathetic worms beg and plead for forgiveness and mercy as the guards beat them senseless, King Hammonly decided to make it a regular public occurrence, a way to keep the people in line and ensure that nobody got any ideas about revolting. The ones that were “chosen” to take part in these public displays were turned into slaves, given the wondrous opportunity to dedicate their pathetic and meaningless lives to a higher cause, serving their King’s every need.

King Hammonly had recently gone out and gathered up a new batch of slaves, after realizing that he’d already killed off all of the ones from the previous batch, but something was different about the night following the collection of his new slaves. Naturally King Hammonly had been sleeping wonderfully in his king-sized bed, fit with only the softest and most comfortable set of sheets and blankets, before a loud noise from somewhere downstairs had rudely awoken him from his beauty sleep.

He’d been informed by one of the guards stationed outside his bedroom door that there was an intruder in the castle, but that there was no need to worry, and that the intruder would be taken care of quickly. That little conversation had occurred little more than 30 minutes ago, and yet the sounds that King Hammonly III had heard since that conversation had awoken in him a primal and animalistic fear for his own safety and life that the king had never experienced before, as the sounds of horrified screaming, followed by blood and gore spewing out everywhere got closer and closer, until the inevitable demise of the guards standing out his own bedroom door could be heard, followed by a truly deafening and nightmarish silence. 

King Hammonly stared at the large, oak wood doors that separated him and the deadly monster standing on the other side, hoping, praying that this was all some big prank that he would take the absolute delight in punishing whoever orchestrated this outrageous offense, perhaps even executing them in the town square tomorrow, and really make an example out of this hooligan for everyone in the kingdom to see. King Hammonly isn’t sure how long passes before something makes its way underneath his door.

A speck. A tiny green speck that pops out from underneath the crack in the door and floats slowly to the middle of the room, remaining there for a second before another one joins it, this one a light blue color. Soon enough another speck joins them, then another, then another, then another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and another, and before King Hammonly can even begin to comprehend what’s going on, the doors to his personal chambers burst open, and a rush of specks come flying into the room, bouncing randomly around the room in all manners of chaos, before beginning to congregate at the center, where the first speck still floated. 

Slowly but surely, the remaining specks began to move toward the center of the room, spinning in a tornado like motion around the first speck, before beginning to attach themselves to each other, first forming an eye, then another eye, then a face, then a head, then a neck, shoulders, arms, hands, chest, stomach, hips, legs, and feet. King Hammonly stares in disbelief as the beginnings of what appears to be a human forms right before his very eyes, black specks rushing to cover the naked figure floating in the center of the room, slithering their way up and down his body until every inch of cream colored skin has been covered with black, tattered clothes.

A long moment of silence passes before the… man? creature? ghost? demon? whatever the fuck this thing is, speaks.

“Good evening,  _ Your Highness _ ” it says, its voice laced with sarcasm and detest at the use of King Hammonly’s proper title.

The king grimaces at the disrespectful tone of the figure in his room, staggering to his feet to try and save some face. “Who are you? Do you have any idea what you’re doing or whose castle this is. I’ll have you know that my name is King Detronius Hammonly III, and this here is my domain, where I alone am the ruler of this great and mighty kingdom, and I shall not be treated with such disrespect in my own-”

“ **Shut up** ” the shadow growls, “before you earn yourself an even  **earlier** exit from this world.”

King Hammonly, pales, his body beginning to tremble at the monster’s calm, but frightening tone. “W-w-what do you m-mean? I-i-i-i n-never did an-nothing wrong” The cowardly king says, his eyes widening in fear when the creature takes a step toward him.

“What I mean,  _ King Hammonly III _ , is that you have committed a series of unforgivable crimes against the people of this kingdom,  **your people** I might add. Your heinous and cruel reign over this kingdom has lasted for far too long, and you have caused your people to live in constant fear over whether you will one day come and rip them or someone they love from within their own homes, only to make personal slaves out of them, and for that you have been deemed unworthy to continue ruling over this kingdom” the shadow explains.

“W-w-w-wait, hold on a second. Who authorized such a discussion to take place. I never agreed to a counsel being held over my worthiness to rule the kingdom” King Hammonly argues desperately, cowering away from the powerful gaze of the demon standing before him.

“No, you didn’t” the creature states “but that doesn't really matter. You have no authority over me or the decisions I make, and now that I’ve witnessed not only the full effects of your “ruling”, but also the disgusting nature of your personality, I’ve decided that I can no longer just stand here and watch as you torture hundreds of innocent people for your own sadistic amusement. I’m the one making the decisions now, and I’ve decided that it’s time for you to finally pay for every horrible thing you’ve done to these people.”

Upon finishing its statement, a pair of long, sharp looking blades somehow magically appear out of nowhere, sticking out of the sleeves at the shadow’s side as he begins to slowly approach King Hammonly. The king begins mouthing off, a desperate last ditch effort to save his own life.

“You know you can’t do this right? I’m a King, and kings get to do whatever they feel is best for the kingdom. Surely you know that, right?”

But the shadow does not stop.

“W-wait a second, come on now, surely we can come to some sort of agreement here.”

Closer and closer it approaches.

“P-p-please, see reason. I know, I-I-I’ll pay you. Whatever it is you want. Name your price and it’s yours, no questions asked.”

Step by step the monster descends upon its wounded prey.

“Ok, ok, I admit that I was perhaps a bit harsh on the people. I swear upon the graves of my dearly departed relatives that I’ll never do it again. I’ll be nicer, I’ll turn over a new leaf, I’ll be the best king there ever was, just please spare me.”

His words fall upon deaf ears as the blades ascend into the air above King Kammonly’s head, glinting dangerously as the last remaining rays of moonlight catch the reflective surface of the metal. The king’s eyes widen as he finally meets the eyes of the unholy creature standing above him, the only color that sticks out from beneath the sea of black is the piercing emerald green of his eyes, which stare down at King Hammonly. They do not swim with the delight or excitement that Hammonly expected from something as merciless or lethal as this creature, who is clearly a seasoned hunter and very skillful in the art of ending lives. No, this creature’s eyes were instead filled with a deep seated anger and rage the likes of which the king had never seen before. These were not the eyes of a killer fulfilling a simple job, who had grown cold and unfeeling toward the people it killed, and killed for. This monster was after him for something, and this time, its was personal.

The shadow lowers itself to King Hammonly’s level for a moment, staring the rotten king directly in the eyes. 

“ **Say hello to all the lost souls who died by your hand, on your way down to hell** .” It says raising the blade above it’s head once again, before swiftly bringing it down upon the head of the cowardly man before him. 

“NO WAIT, PLEASE HAVE MERCY” King Hammonly cries out desperately, tears beginning to fall from his eyes as he screams for someone, anyone to come save him.

No one comes to his aid.

The screams fall silent.

The sun finally crests over the horizon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY new chapter finally! This chapter is (very clearly) from the perspective of the guards and king of the kingdom that Buggy “deals with” after jumping back into the sewers at the end of chapter 5. In case you couldnt tell the “shadow creature” that broke into the castle was actually Buggy, I figured that was pretty easy to tell but I figured I’d point it out just in case somebody got confused. Anyways i hope you all enjoyed this chapter, make sure to leave a comment down below letting me know what you thought of it, and as always, I hope to see you all very soon for chapter 7. Bye!!!!! <3 <3 <3


	7. World Government Recognition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

“WHAT? WHAT DO YOU MEAN THERE’S BEEN AN ASSASSINATION?”

The roomful of marines flinch at the Fleet Admiral’s raised voice regarding the horrific news they just received.

“A-as I just said s-sir, we just received a distress call from the Kingdom of Solomine informing us that the ruling monarch King Hammonly III, along with his entire royal guard, were murdered sometime the night before last by an unknown assailant. We’ve already dispatched a team of investigators to look into the crime but so far our search hasn’t revealed any new information” the lower rank officer says, trembling slightly under the intense gaze of his superior.

Sengoku sighs from his spot seated at the large round table, where he and a group of high ranking marine officials were in the process of having a meeting, at least until the news of King Hammonly’s assassination interrupted them. Now the tables of marines were talking and whispering amongst themselves in rapid hushed voices, wondering what the next course of action to deal with this situation should be.

“Do we know the nature of the crime or have a suspect?” Sengoku asks. “Perhaps it would be more effective to go around and interview the citizens asking where they were at the time of the murder or ask if they saw any suspicious activity around that time.”

A low murmur of agreement fills the room at Sengoku’s recommendation.

“Based on the evidence found at the scene of the crime, we’ve been able to deduce that this was a targeted assassination done as some sort of protest against both the late King’s ruling, as well as the World Government” the officer says.

“The World Government? What the hell do you mean by that?” Garp asks, his attention having been piqued. 

“We aren’t entirely sure at the moment, but we were able to collect a few testimonies from guards who managed to survive the ordeal, with details regarding what they saw and what happened” the officer says, stepping forward to lay a file down on the table, which gets passed up to the Fleet Admiral to read. “As for the suspect, investigators thought much the same thing as Admiral Sengoku, but unfortunately any attempts to interview the citizens regarding the identity of our potential suspect have resulted in either solid alibis or demands for official warrants before they are spoken to, so as of right now the investigation has resulted in an overwhelming dead end.”

The fleet admiral groans, tossing the file to the side before pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration. Sengoku picks up the file and flips it open, leafing through the various photos and written testimonies taken from the royal guards, handing them off to Tsuru once he’s done with them. The vice admiral furrows her brows.

“What’s all this talk of a ‘shadow monster’ about? The guards weren’t inebriated during the attack were they?” Tsuru asks, turning to regard the lower rank officer.

“Negative, ma’am. Drug tests were performed on the royal guards following their testimonies but all the tests came back negative, so while I agree their insistence upon being attacked by a ‘shadow monster’ is rather ludicrous, it had nothing to do with any form of drug or inebriation.”

Sengoku hums in thought as he continues looking through the photos, stopping once he finds something that catches his interest. 

“Something the matter, Sengoku?” The fleet admiral asks, noticing his subordinates intense look. 

“What information do you have about these two pictures?” Sengoku asks, ignoring his superiors question in favor of taking two photos out of the file and placing them side by side on the table. 

The officer looks at them for a moment before answering. “Ah, I see. The first photo was taken in the late King Hammonly’s bedroom, and appears to be some kind of message written out in blue ink was written across the opposite wall from where he was found. This was what lead the investigators to believe that this was a targeted assassination against the king, as well as a declaration against the world government. The second photo is of a potential suspect that was actually taken the night of the murder by a local news reporter who just so happened to be walking home late at night around the approximate time the assassination is believed to have taken place. We aren’t entirely sure how credible the source is, and as you can plainly see, the suspect’s choice of clothing has made trying to discern their true identity pretty much impossible, but the guards who survived the ordeal confirmed with relative certainty that this was the person they saw attacking the castle. As of right now we don’t have very much else to go by, so we decided to include it in the file just in case, rather than toss it away.”

“Wow, that’s quite the picture” Garp comments, leaning over to get a better look at the images Sengoku was talking about.

Sengoku hums in agreement as he picks the images back up and sits back in his chair, further inspecting them. Much to the admiral’s annoyance, the officers comment about the suspect’s choice of attire making it impossible to make out any discernible features that could help the Marines track down this criminal was painfully accurate. The suspect was covered from head to toe in black clothing and their face was covered with a mask of some sort that hid their face. A clever thing to do, albeit incredibly annoying. 

The first picture however, is what really caught Sengoku’s attention, not so much because of the fact that the suspect, whoever they were, felt the need to leave behind a piece of evidence that could potentially incriminate them later on, but more so because of what the message they left behind said.

**“BEWARE THE SHADOW THAT SEEKS VENGEANCE AGAINST THE CORRUPTED WHO HIDE BEHIND THE FALSE HOLINESS OF THE LIGHT”**

‘‘Beware the shadow’? ‘The corrupted who hide behind the false holiness of the light’ What on earth could that possibly mean?’ Sengoku wonders to himself. ‘Is this from the “shadow monster” that the crowns guards were talking about? Hmm, perhaps there’s more validity to their claims than we originally thought.’

“Sengoku?” The admiral looks up, pulled from his thoughts, by the sound of the fleet admiral’s voice saying his name. 

Sengoku shakes his head and sighs. “No, it’s nothing, please forgive my absent mindedness. Were you saying something just now?”

The fleet admiral, as well as a few other officers sitting at the table give Sengoku a weird look that the admiral ignores, but they don’t ask any further questions.

“We were all just discussing what the best course of action in dealing with this situation would be, but honestly I think we’re all wasting our time” Garp pipes in, filling Sengoku in on what he had missed. 

“What do you mean by that?” Tsuru asks, fixing Garp with a pointed look that the vice admiral expertly ignores.

“Well just think about it, so far the investigation has proved to be useless in getting us a solid suspect and we don’t have the time nor resources available to interrogate every citizen in the kingdom either. And even if it was an everyday citizen that did it, the overall negative opinions the vast majority of the kingdom has over their late king means that it could have been literally any one of them, so using a dislike for his political policy as a potential motive would put the entire kingdom up as suspect. To be honest I think this whole discussion is stupid. It’s already been over 24 hours since the murder happened, we don’t have an identity for the suspect, it would take too much time and money to look for one in the kingdom, even more so if they managed to escape the kingdom already, so why are we even bothering to talk about it? The sensible thing to do would be to just accept that the perpetrator got away, and to move on and try to prevent something like this from happening anywhere else” Garp continues, picking at his ear while he speaks.

“For once, I'm in agreement with Garp” Sengoku says, closing the file and placing it back on the table. The table of officers go from glaring at Garp to looking at Sengoku in surprise.

“Really? And would you care to explain why that is?” Tsuru asks, crossing her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes at her comrades.

“While his presentation may have been a bit harsh, Garp does have a point. There’s no point in continuing with an investigation that isn’t going to provide us with any valuable information that will help find and bring the murderer to justice. While I would like to have a few more things looked at before we recall the investigators, I also think that continuing to harass and interrogate the citizens of the kingdom for information that they don’t have will only lead to further mistrust. Although I don’t like the idea of simply letting the perpetrator get away, if we can’t find them with the resources we have available to us now, then, as Garp said, there isn’t anything we can do except try to prevent such an event from occurring somewhere else.”

Several glances are exchanged between the other admirals and vice admirals seated around the table, and although several of them have apprehensive looks on their faces, nobody attempts to make a counterpoint to Garp and Sengoku’s claims.

“Well then” the fleet admiral begins “I’m going to take all your silence as a unanimous agreement to this decision. Given that you and Garp seem to be in full agreement about this, what do you think we should do in terms of a wanted poster? We don’t have an identity to link to the suspect, but we do have a rather suspicious looking picture that we could put out just to see if something comes up from it.”

Garp and Sengoku exchange a glance before Sengoku speaks. “I think the best thing to do right now would be to avoid bringing attention to this as much as possible. Although it’s highly likely that this is an isolated incident, I think the message that was left behind brings up the possibility of this being the debut kill for some kind of rogue vigilante. the last thing we want to do in the event that is true, is bring any sort of attention, positive or negative, toward this person and what they are doing, at least until they prove to be an actual threat. Perhaps denying this person of the recognition they crave for what they’ve done will dissuade them from doing so again in the future.”

The table of marines all nod in agreement.

“U-u-um…” the messenger officer speaks up, stuttering slightly as he speaks.

“What is it?” The fleet admiral asks, directing his attention to the man standing at the end of the table.

“W-well you see s-s-sir, t-that sounds like a g-great idea and all, b-b-but…” he pauses for a moment, swallowing thickly “a w-wanted poster has already been p-printed, and is in the process of b-b-being d-distributed as we s-s-speak.”

“WHAT?” Sengoku yells, standing from his seat and staring at the messenger officer in shock and anger. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN A POSTER’S ALREADY BEEN PRINTED? WHO AUTHORIZED YOU TO GO THROUGH WITH THAT?”

“I-I-I’m sorry s-s-sir, i-t’s just standard p-procedure for the department to print a wanted poster of a-a-any potentially d-dangerous individuals up and r-release the information we h-have on them to the p-public. I-i-if it had been a l-lesser crime we would have w-waited to consult you, but b-because of the nature of the murder we would have suffered s-severe backlash from the public and press if we h-hadn’t, at the very least, released the information to the n-newspapers” the messenger officer says, curling in on himself under the intense heat of Sengoku’s gaze.

The admiral growls but sits back in his seat, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

The fleet admiral sighs. “Well, it looks like that ship has already sailed, but at the very least maybe someone will be able to give us some more information on out potential suspect should they happen to strike again.”

“Is it wishful thinking for me to hope that this was just a one-off event done by some dumb kid trying to get a more progressive ruler on the throne?” Tsuru asks, leaning forward to pick the file off the table and leaf through it.

“Given our line of work, ya, I’d say that’s some pretty wishful thinking there, Tsuru” Garp comments, looking totally unfazed by the news they just received.

“Do we know who’s in line to take the throne now that King Hammonly’s dead?” The fleet admiral asks.

The messenger officer takes a notepad out of his back pocket and flips through it for a moment before answering. “According to the report we received earlier today, it looks like there aren’t anymore blood relatives left to take over the throne now that King Hammonly is dead, and while there is a committee of officials whose sole purpose is to choose the next royal bloodline that will rule over the kingdom, the citizens of Solomine have gone on strike and are demanding a democratic election to take place in order to choose the next royal figurehead. We haven’t received anything more than that, but from what the investigators were saying, it sounds like the citizens will probably get their way, unless the royal council wants a full-scale revolution on their hands.”

“A democracy, huh?” The fleet admiral asks, of no one in particular. “Well I suppose that’s not the worst thing that could come out of this whole mess.”

Sengoku sighs. “I suppose you’re right, but I really would have preferred if we’d held off on sending out that wanted poster.”

“Ah what are you getting your panties in a wad for? What’s done is done and now the only thing we can do it make sure that if this vigilante tries to pull something like this again that we bring him to justice and make him pay for his crimes” Garp says, stifling a yawn as he gets up from the table. “I’m done with this meeting, I’m going on my lunch break. I’ll be back in an hour.”

“What th-HEY! GARP, GET BACK HERE, I HAVEN’T DISMISSED YOU YET!” The fleet admiral yells at the retreating form of Garp as he exits the room, completely ignoring the orders from his superior to not leave until he was instructed to.

Sengoku takes another look down at the photos on the table as his superior pointlessly tries to get Garp to come back and sit down, his gaze fixated on the one of the darkened figure that seems to be floating above the rooftops, blue ink glistening off their gloves and arms from when they wrote that message on the wall of King Hammonly’s room, their body looking almost… transparent in the moonlit sky.

Sengoku shakes his head and takes a deep breath, blinking the frustration and exhaustion that he feels, that are making him see things that aren’t even there.

Whoever, or whatever, the hell this person is, Sengoku will make sure that they don’t get away with the crime they committed. King Hammonly may not have been a very popular king among his people, or the marines for that matter, but he was still a king, and more importantly a person, and no one, save for the World Government, had the power to decide someone’s fate, regardless of whether they were in the right or not.

The World Government would find this person sooner or later, Sengoku was certain of that much. Now the only thing left to do was to make sure that no other lives were taken between now and when this vigilante was finally brought to justice, and given the punishment they so rightfully deserved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wasn’t planning on adding this chapter at first, but then I decided to do it because why the hell not? It’s interesting to write for the marines, and I definitely need more practice before I get a handle on their characters, but i had a lot of fun and want to do more with them in the future, so we’ll see what happens. Let me know what you think of this chapter by leaving a comment, I always loving responding to comments! Thanks so much for reading and I hope to see you all soon for chapter 8. Bye!!!


	8. The Rise of Blue Shadow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Enjoy!

Buggy yawns as he trudges into the dining hall of the Oro Jackson to grab himself some breakfast, the large mess hall already filled with people singing, eating, and talking boisterously despite how early in the morning it was.

A few days have passed since Buggy’s “secret mission” was completed, and despite a couple close calls, the blue haired boy had successfully managed to avoid raising any sort of suspicion regarding his whereabouts on that night from any of the Roger pirates, though he’s still waiting on some sort of confirmation from the newspapers that he had actually gotten away with the crime, and hadn’t accidentally left any traces behind linking him to the murder. Despite this, after hearing of rumors that the death of King Hammonly III would result in the establishment of a people-run democracy lead by an elected official rather than a king, Buggy has to admit that he feels a lot better about this whole situation than he probably should, but he doesn’t really care.

Heading over to the breakfast bar, Buggy grabs two plates and begins loading them up with all the amazing delicacies that Wilson had prepared for them that morning. Once he’s finished, Buggy takes the two full plates, as well as a glass of apple juice, over to his spot next to Shanks at one of the many tables that filled the mess hall, placing one of the plates in front of Shanks, whose head is laid against the table, snoring lightly.

“Rise and shine asshole, breakfast is ready” Buggy says, nudging Shanks’ shoulder as he sits down in his own seat. The redhead jerks awake, wiping at the streak of drool that coated his cheek, before wordlessly digging into the plate of food that had magically appeared in front of him.

“You’re welcome” Buggy huffs, chuckling to himself when Shanks turns to him, a piece of scrambled egg stuck to his cheek, and a confused look etched across his face.

“Oh, thank you” Shanks finally says after a moment of confused silence, his words slightly muffled by the spoonfuls of food the redhead had shoved into his mouth. Buggy rolls his eyes and shakes his head, but says nothing further as he begins to eat his own breakfast, a small, fond smile pulling at the corner of his lips.

The sound of loud talking from across the dining hall catches Buggy’s attention, as he turns to see several of the Roger pirates gathered around one of the tables, presumably all looking at today’s newspaper that just came in.

“Holy shit, get a load of this.”

“Is this for real? Like is this actually legit?”

“Seems like it, but man that is scary lookin’.”

“Ya, you’re not kidding. If I saw that thing charging at me from out of the darkness, I’d be off running in the other direction faster than Wilson when Crocus wants to take blood samples.”

“OI! I heard that ye ornery cunts.”

The group bursts out laughing at the indignant look that the cook casts in their direction, but makes no move to contradict the previous statement about him.

Buggy takes his opportunity to speak up. “What’s all the commotion about?” The blue haired boy asks, grabbing his nakama’ s attention.

“It’s a newspaper article” Kelly, the gunman, says, “about the king of that island we left a few days ago that was killed.”

“What about it?” Buggy asks curiously, confused as to why there would be another article about the murder of King Hammonly despite days having passed since the first one was published.

“Well, apparently they found the guy who did it” Kelly replies casually, causing Buggy to immediately stiffen, a deep and terrible feeling of dread beginning to spread throughout his body.

“They… they did?” Buggy asks nervously, though his change in disposition goes unnoticed by the others.

“Ya, apparently a news reporter caught a picture of him as he jumped out the window of the castle. I guess he submitted the picture to the local authorities and the guards who managed to survive confirmed it was him.”

“Did they now?” Buggy asks, though his question is rhetorical in nature. 

“Ya, they’ve got a bounty on him and everything too.”

“A bounty?” Buggy bursts out, his stomach twisting painfully as panic begins to set in.

This is it. He’s been found out. They’re just setting him up until they can all pounce on him, berating him for doing something as dangerous as killing a King, putting them all at risk for the future. And not only that, but now the Government was going to be after him too. The kingdom that King Hammonly reigned over was a small but active member of the World Government program, and an avid supporter of all their activities, meaning that with him gone, the World Government had just lost a very powerful benefactor, and was now gunning for the person who took him out. Buggy is so done for.

“Ya, here’s the bounty poster. Take a look” Kenai says, handing the piece of paper over to Buggy, who has gone rather pale since the beginning of this conversation, his heart pounding in his chest as he turns the poster over and sees… wait what?

“What the fuck is this?” Buggy asks, squinting down at the wanted poster as he tries to make out what the hell he’s looking at.

“Apparently that’s the guy who murdered King Hammonly III. It’s a pretty cool looking picture, but it doesn't really do the government much good... SEEING AS HOW THEY DIDN’T ACTUALLY GET HIS FACE!” Kenai bursts out laughing along with the rest of the Roger pirates in the vicinity, all of them clearly finding the irony of this wanted poster to be too hilarious to not laugh at.

With a look of shock and confusion, Buggy looks down at the poster in his hands.

‘That… that’s me?’ He wonders to himself as he examines the person captured on the wanted poster.

The picture isn’t terrible per say, but for a wanted poster, where knowing what the person on it looks like is everything, the picture doesn’t do a very good job of showing any notable features that would help in determining his true identity. First of all, the picture doesn't capture his face very well, the gas mask being the only thing visible under the hood that Buggy had thankfully remembered to pull up before he left the castle, and the full moon in the background behind him isn’t making picking out other details any easier. Overall, the only reason Buggy knows that the picture is actually of him is because of the cloak and gas mask he was wearing, as well as the fact that it appeared to have been taken the night of the murder, around the time Buggy had been heading back to the Oro Jackson to clean the blood and blue ink, which he had used to leave a little message on the wall of the king’s room, off of his gloves before the smell set in.

Strangely enough however, Buggy didn’t remember a flash going off or even notice anybody in the immediate vicinity of where he was, so how this person was able to get a picture of him is beyond Buggy, but the fact of the matter is that somebody managed to snag a picture of him somehow, and even if nobody can tell that it’s him, he’s still in a great deal more danger than he would have been if he’d managed to make a clean getaway. 

Looking further down the wanted poster, Buggy reads the text located under the picture. It reads: ****

**WANTED: ** **DEAD OR ALIVE**

**“BLUE SHADOW”**

**TRUE IDENTITY UNKNOWN**

**PRIME SUSPECT FOR THE MURDER OF KING HAMMONLY III - FORMER KING OF SOLOMINE KINGDOM**

**$40,000,000** ****

“‘Blue Shadow’, now that’s a cool title to have” Shanks says, throwing his arm around Buggy’s waist and resting his chin on the shorter teen’s shoulder. “I wonder why this guy decided to kill King Hamchop?”

“It’s King Hammonly” Buggy corrects, eyeing the redhead out of the corner of his eye.

“Who knows, there are a million different reasons why somebody might want or try to kill a king, although in this case I wouldn’t be surprised if it was a vengeful family member of one of the prisoners we saw get beat up in the street a few days before” Kelly replies with a shrug of his shoulders. “To be honest, Im kind of glad that asshole got his head chopped off. I’m not usually one to judge others when it comes to morality, but that guy just took things way too far. That kingdom is way better off now that he’s dead, and maybe the world government will finally take this as a hint to keep a closer eye on the king’s under their protection.”

“Maybe so, but there are hundreds of other kingdoms with terrible ruler like him all over the world that fully support the world government and everything they do. The World Government might be taking this case very seriously but that doesn’t mean they’re gonna do anything about all the other corrupt leaders all over the world, especially if the corrupt leaders are the ones who let them get away with all the bullshit they do on a day to day basis” somebody else pipes up, causing a murmur of agreement to spread throughout the mess hall.

Buggy continues to look down at the wanted poster with a blank expression, unsure of what to think or how to feel about this whole situation.

To a certain degree he knew they were right, the World Government wasn’t going to do anything about the corruption in this world, seeing as how they benefit a great deal from it, and killing one little king isn’t going to end the pain and suffering that millions of people all over the world have to live with day in and day out. Buggy might have done the people of Solomine a great service by ridding them of their terrible king, but what about the rest of the world?

“You know” Shanks pipes up, plucking the poster from Buggy’s hands to get a better look at it, “you might be right about one king getting his head sliced off not doing anything about all the others, but if this Blue Shadow guy kills off a few more shitty kings, maybe they’ll start to take it more seriously?”

Buggy looks over at Shanks with a surprised expression, wondering what the hell the redhead was talking about.

“Come on Shanks, be reasonable. Do you honestly think that one guy is gonna make the World Government change their ways just because a few kings get killed off?” Kenai questions.

“How the hell should I know, I’m just making a suggestion” Shanks says defensively, tossing the poster back on the table. “Maybe it is too big a task for one guy to handle all on his own, but if somebody doesn’t take a stand against the World Government and try to change it, then things will just continue to be the same forever, right? If people want change then they have to be willing to stand up for themselves and do something, even if they have to do it by themselves.”

A moment of thoughtful looks are passed back and forth between several of the other Roger pirates, before murmurs of agreement begin to pop up. Shanks beams proudly at the overwhelmingly positive feedback to his statement, before promptly digging back into his breakfast. 

Buggy stares at Shanks with a careful expression, looking for any hint or indication that the redhead knew about Buggy’s little secret. The absentminded, but good natured smile he casts Buggy’s way in between large gulps of food and orange juice say no, allowing the blue-haired teen to breathe a sigh of relief knowing that he hadn’t been found out, not that Shanks would have ratted him out to anybody. Shanks was a lot of things, but a snitch definitely wasn’t one of them.

Sitting back down in his seat, Buggy continues to eat his breakfast, his appetite having returned to him once his panicked nerves had settled down. The rest of breakfast was spent talking about everything and nothing, and while Buggy remained unusually quiet throughout the rest of the meal, he made sure to keep an ear open for any further discussion of ‘Blue Shadow’, though thankfully another topic had steered the conversation away from the unknown vigilante.

Once he finished breakfast, Buggy placed his dirty dishes in the sink and excused himself from the mess hall, exiting the room and heading out onto the main deck of the Oro Jackson, which was unusually empty given that the rest of the crew was still busy stuffing their faces full of food. 

Taking a deep breath, Buggy walks over to the side railing and hops up to sit on the narrow railing, pulling the wanted poster, his wanted poster, out of his back pocket. Buggy looks over the terrifying figure the picture shows, his gaze slowly trailing down until it lands on the moniker that the World Government had so kindly given him.

“‘Blue Shadow’, huh?” Buggy says aloud, allowing the title the World Government had bestowed upon him to roll over his tongue, gliding off his lips with ease and grace. Something about the title felt incredibly fitting.

A small smile spreads across his lips as he looks out onto the horizon, toward the next island, their next destination, where Buggy would no doubt be able to find a corrupt monarch not too unlike the one he had dealt with back on Solomine. Now he understood, Buggy finally understood what it was he had to do.

Freeing the people of Solomine from King Hammonly’s rule had been a good start, but there was so much more to be done, so much more work to do before the world, not just Solomine, was free from the corruption and hate that had once plagued Solomine and, to a certain degree, had allowed his entire family, his village, and his home, to be completely eradicated. Buggy might not be able to remember the exact events that occurred the night the World Government had destroyed his home and took everything he held dear away from him, but he did know that something had to be done to make sure that nothing like that ever happened again.

If the marines or the world government weren’t going to do something about all the corruption and hate in the world, then maybe it was finally time for Buggy to step up and do something about it.

Maybe it was time for Blue Shadow to step up and do it for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaaaaaaand that’s the last chapter!!! This fic ended up being like 3 or 4 chapters longer than I originally intended it to be, but overall I’m not mad at how it ended up, in fact I’m actually really happy about some of the stuff I ended up adding in kind of last minute, like the marine chapter with Sengoku, that was a good one to add in I feel! Despite the positive reception ive received for this AU so far, I was actually really nervous to post this fic because I was afraid that people wouldn’t like it because of how out there it was in terms of the liberties I took with Buggy’s character and the introduction of his new role as the vigilante known as “Blue Shadow”. Even though I absolutely love the idea and Dragowolf and I go on and on and on about it all the time, it was still kind of scared that people wouldnt really get it or just plain wouldnt like it, but so far I’ve received nothing but positive feedback on this, which is helping to ease my anxiety a little bit, and it makes me so happy that people actually enjoy this new idea that Dragowolf and I came up with and think that it’s something interesting and something they want to learn and read about. I definitely plan on writing more about Blue Shadow in the future, but for right now I plan on back tracking and doing a few fics when Shanks and Buggy are young kiddos again, like around 9-10, that will introduce some more characters that will becomes more relevant and important later on in the AU. For the most part, even though I write a lot of these fics out of order, I try to keep a lot of the spoiler type stuff to a minimal, so characters who get introduced in fics I post later down the line won’t appear in stories that I am posting now even if, chronologically speaking, they would technically be there. There’s no real reason for this its just kind of how ive done it thus far and I like keeping certain things a mystery so thats really the only solid reason I can come up with. As for Buggy’s devil fruit power, I definitely plan on going more into detail about it in a later fic, I realize looking back on some of the things Ive written that I probably didn’t do a very good job of explaining how his power works and I probably focused a little bit too much on the “aesthetic” of how I wanted his powers to appear in the story, so if I confused you in certain parts about how the fuck Buggy’s powers work because I was trying to be extra, I apologize for that, and I’ll do my best to clear up any confusion either down in the comments below (if you have specific questions) or in the later fic I plan on posting sometime that will revolve around Buggy getting his devil fruit and subsequently learning to master it. Anyways I think thats all the things I wanted to cover, Ive kind of been keeping my notes really short and sweet so I don’t take up too much of your time but since this is the last chapter I just wanted to clear some things up and explain my plans for future fics down the line. I have a couple in the works already and while I’m not entirely sure when I plan on posting the next one, I’m hoping it’ll be relatively soon but it’ll kind of depend on when I’m able to find time to write and when I finish the chapter, but more chapters will be coming soon I promise! Anyways thank you all so much for reading, make sure to comment down below letting me know what you thought of this fic, what you liked about it, what you thought maybe could have been improved, etc., and hopefully I will see you all soon for my next fic which, I’ll give you a little hint, is the fic that introduces Rouge and her ragtag crew of badass ladies, so get excited for that ;-). Ok enough blabbering, thanks so much for reading, I love you all so very much, have a wonderful holiday season, and I’ll see you all very, very, very soon. Bye! <3 <3 <3

**Author's Note:**

> As always, let me know what you think of this story so far down in the comments below, I literally LIVE to read and respond to your comments so don’t be shy! Thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and as always I hope to see you all soon for chapter 2. Bye!!!!


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